1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for imaging biologic specimens disposed within an analysis chamber in general, and to methods and apparatus for disposing the chamber in a planar orientation in particular.
2. Background Information
Historically, biologic fluid samples such as whole blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, body cavity fluids, etc., have had their particulate or cellular contents evaluated by smearing a small undiluted amount of the fluid on a slide and evaluating that smear under a manually operated microscope. Different areas of the smear were examined by manipulating the slide in an X-Y plane. Focus was accomplished by altering the position of one or both of the slide and the microscope objective along the Z-axis. Reasonable results were attainable using these techniques, but they relied heavily upon the technician's experience and technique. Manually examining the various fields of the sample is also labor intensive and therefore not practically feasible for commercial laboratory applications.
Automated apparatus capable of analyzing quiescent biologic fluid samples within a chamber are known. These devices typically maintain the sample in an X-Y plane. Image focus is accomplished by moving one or both of the sample or the device optics relative to the other along a Z-axis. To efficiently perform such an analysis, it is necessary to provide such focus at different heights in an accurate, rapid manner.